Appliance for transferring a rouleau of can covers from a container to the magazine of a canning machine



May 10, 1960 M. A. LINCE APPLIANCE FOR TRANSFERRING A ROULEAU OF CAN COVERS FROM A CONTAINER TO THE MAGAZINE OF A CANNING MACHINE Filed July 2, 1957 ff I?! of one hand.

cated in broken lines;

United States Patent M Mario A. Lince, Sagamore, Mass.

Application July 2, 1957, Serial No. 669,622

2 Claims. (Cl. 294-16) This invention pertains to the canning industry and relates, more especially, to an improved appliance for use in transferring a rouleau of can covers from a container to the magazine of a canning machine. The customary canning machine has a magazine in which the can covers which are to be applied to the filled cans are disposed in a stack or rouleau in which the can covers are 5' 3 nested closely together. Since the canning machine operates at high speed, the magazine is depleted rapidly and must be refilled at frequent intervals. It is now the customary practice of the can maker to ship the covers in cartons in which they are arranged in rouleaus and from t which they must be transferred to the magazine of the canning machine; but, since, in accordance with the present practice, the rouleau in the shipping carton is unwrapped, consisting merely of a stack of independent covers, it is very difficult to remove such a rouleau from the carton and to place it as a unit in the magazine of the canning machine because of the tendency of the long rouleau or stack of covers to buckle, with the result that the covers separate and fall to the floor.

A principal object of the present invention is to pro- W vide means whereby a rouleau of can covers may be removed as a unit from the shipping carton and placed in the canning machine magazine without danger that the rouleau will break during transit. A further object is to provide a novel appliance operative to pick up an unwrapped rouleau of can covers and, without danger of dropping them, to maintain intact the stack or rouleau while transferring it to the machine magazine. A further object is to provide a novel appliance comprising opposed, relatively movable jaws designed respectively to engage the endmost covers of a rouleau and to grip the rouleau between them with sufficient force to enable the entire rouleau to be lifted as a unit from the container. A further object is to provide a novel appliance having opv V posed jaws shaped to permit them to he slipped between the walls of the carton and the endmost covers of a rouleau and which are resiliently urged toward each other with force sufficient to grip the rouleau firmly enough to permit it to be lifted from the carton. A further object is toprovide means opeartive to grip or hold a rouleau of covers while they are being transferred from carton to magazine and which may be manipulated by the use Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will be pointed out in the following and more detailed description and by reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig.1 is a side elevation, with portions in vertical section,.showing the appliance in position for lifting a rouleau of 'covers from a shipping carton, the latter being indi- Fig. 2 is a plan view, to smaller scale than Fig. 1, showing the appliance, but omitting the carton;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

2,936,192 Patented May 10, 1960 Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1, looking toward the left; 7

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section on the line 55 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6--6 of Fig. 1, looking toward the left;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary section on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is an elevation illustrating a cover of the conventional type viewed from its outer side; and,

Fig. 9 is a section on the line 9-9 of Fig. 8, but to larger scale.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 20 designates the handle of the implement of the present invention, this handle being of any desired material but preferably a casting, for example of aluminum, and, as illustrated in Fig. 1, being of generally rectangular contour in side elevation but having the elongate central opening 21 for the accommodation of the fingers of the user. Near its lower right-hand corner, as viewed in Fig. l, the handle is provided with a bore for the reception of the inner end 21 of a rigid rod 22. This rod may have screw-threaded engagement with the wall of the bore or may be secured in any other desired way to the handle. This rod 22 is provided with a portion 23 of reduced diameter on which there is adjustably mounted a sleeve 24 which may be adjusted along the portion 23 of the rod and secured in adjusted position by means of set screws 25. To the outer end of this sleeve 24, there is secured the hub portion 26 of the jaw 27. This jaw is designed to contact the inner or lacquered surface L (Fig. 9) of the can cover; and, to avoid injury to this lacquered surface, this jaw is desirably made of or coated with some non-metallic material, for example indurated fiber or a synthetic plastic. However, the jaw should be sufliciently rigid and shaperetaining so that it will not flex substantially when subjected to force necessary to hold a stack of covers between it and the opposing jaw. As illustrated in Figs. .6 and 7, this jaw 27 is provided with a bevelled lower edge 28 to facilitate its introduction between the end wall K (Fig. l) of the carton in which the covers: are shipped and the endmost cover C of the rouleau R of covers. At its upper part, the jaw is provided with the arcuate shoulder 29 of a radius of curvature like that of the outer edge X of the cover and is designed to engage said edge. At its lower part, the inner surface of the jaw 27 is provided with a ledge 30 of a radius of curvature such that it may engage the annular shoulder G (Fig. 9) at the inner side of the cover.

At its left-hand end, as viewed in Fig. l, the handle 20 is provided with a bore aligned with that which receives the end 21 of the rod 22. This bore receives the inner end 31 of a rod 32 fixed to the handle and which projects outwardly beyond the left-hand end of the handle. A sleeve 33 is arranged to slide on the rod 32. As illustrated, the second jaw 35 is integral with or welded to this sleeve 33, although it may be a separate part and secured to the sleeve 33 by means of screws or otherwise. This jaw 35 is of metal and is provided at its upper portion with an arcuate recess 36 (Figs. 4 and 5) which is designed to receive the annular rib M (Fig. 9) at the outside of the can cover. This jaw 35 is also provided, at its inner side, with a cavity having an arcuate inner wall 37 of a diameter to receive the central portion T of the outer side of the can cover. At its lower end, the jaw 35 is bevel-led, as shown at 38, to facilitate its introduction between the end wall K ofthe carton and the endmost left-hand cover C of the rouleau.

At its upper left-hand corner, as viewed in Fig. 1, the handle 20 is provided with upwardly projecting integral lugs 39 and 39 :between which there is pivotally secured, at the point 40, a bell crank lever, one arm 41 of which overlies the handle 20 and constitutes the element whereby the movable jaw 35 is manipulated by the hand of the user. The other arm 42 of this bell crank lever extends downwardly along the left-hand end of the handle 20 and is bifurcated (Fig. 3) at its lower end to provide the spaced members 43 and 44 which straddle the rod 32 and which engage the right-hand end of the sleeve 33. The arm 42 is provided with a slot 45 (Fig. 3) through which passes a rod 46 whose right-hand end is fixed in an opening in the handle 20 and whose lefthand end is provided with an eye in which is hooked one end of the tension spring 47. The opposite end of this tension spring is hooked into an opening 48 (Fig. 5) in a lug 49 which projects up from the hub portion 34 of the jaw 35. The spring 47 is sufficiently stiff and strong to urge the jaw 35 toward the jaw 27 with force suflicient to retain between the two jaws the rouleau R of can covers when the end covers C and C are engaged by the respective jaws.

In using the device, the operator inserts his fingers into the opening 21 in the handle 20 and then, by squeezing downwardly on the member 41, moves the jaw 35 away from the jaw 27. These jaws may now be slipped down between the walls K and K of the carton and the adjacent end covers 0 and C -the walls of the carton being sufficiently flexible to permit this operation to be performed. When the jaws have been inserted to the proper depth, that is until the surface 29 engages the endmost cover C and the recess 36 receives the annular rib M of the cover C the member 41 is released. Then, merely by lifting the handle 20, the entire rouleau of covers may be raised from the carton and transferred as a unit to the magazine of the canning machine. Now, by squeezing down on the member 41, the jaws are again separated, thus releasing the rouleau of covers as a unit into the magazine of the machine.

- By this means, the covers may be transferred from the shipping carton to the canning machine magazine without danger of dropping them and without danger of disturbing the remaining covers in the shipping carton. This'operation can be performed quickly and by the use of only one hand so that it is readily possible to keep the machine magazine supplied with covers even though the machine may operate at very high speed.

Since the covers may vary slightly in thickness, the part 27 has been arranged for adjustment toward and from the opposite jaw by sliding the sleeve 24 along the rod 23 as above described.

Moreover, because the jaws 27 and 35 are removable from the handle, it is possible to replace them with jaws or other size or contour, if desired, to take care of can covers of different shapes or sizes, although a single pair of jaws, such as here illustrated and described, is capable of use for handling covers of a substantial number of sizes and without interchange for other jaws.

One embodiment of the invention has herein been shown by way of example but it is to be understood that the invention is broadly inclusive of any and all modifications falling within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An appliance for use in transferring a rouleau of can covers from a container to the magazine of a canning machine, said appliance comprising a handle and a pair of aligned, rigid, elongate members extending in opposite directions from the handle, a jaw connected to and normally fixed relatively to one of said elongate memhers, a sleeve slidable on the other of said elongate members, a second jaw carried by and normally fixed relatively to said sleeve, a tension spring attached to one end of said sleeve and at its opposite end to the handle and which urges said second jaw toward the first jaw with force sufficient to maintain intact a 'rouleau of covers interposed between the jaws and manually actuable means pivotally secured to said handle for moving the sleeve, in opposition to the spring, thereby to increase the distance between the jaws to admit a rouleau of covers between them, the inner face of one of the jaws being shaped to conform to the outer surface of a can cover and the inner face of the other jaw being shaped to conform to the inner surface of a can cover, that face of that jaw which is shaped to conform to the inner surface of the can cover being of a hard organic material but being relatively soft as compared with steel, thereby to avoid injury to the customary coating material at the inner side of the cover, the lower marginal portions of the jaws being shaped to facilitate the entry of the jaws between the ends of a rouleau of covers and the opposite walls, respectively, of a container in which the covers are packed.

2. An appliance for use in transferring a rouleau of can covers from a container to a magazine of a canning machine, said appliance comprising a rigid handle of generally rectangular shape having a central finger opening, and rigid, aligned guide rods extending from the opposite ends of the handle, a sleeve mounted on and adjustable lengthwise of one of said rods, a jaw fixed to said sleeve, means for securing the sleeve to the rod in selected position of adjustment, a second sleeve slidable along the other of said guide rods, a jaw carried by and normally fixed to said latter sleeve, a tension spring connected at one of its ends to the handle and at its opposite end to the slidable sleeve and which urges the last-named jaw toward the first jaw with a force sufiicient to maintain intact a rouleau of can covers interposed between the jaws, a bell crank lever pivoted to the handle, said lever having one arm which engages the slidable sleeve and having a second arm so located relatively to the handle as to constitute means whereby the second jaw may be moved away from the first jaw by the hand of the user while gripping the handle, wherein that arm of the bell crank lever which engages the slidable sleeve is forked to straddle the rod on which the sleeve slides, the fork tines engaging the end of the sleeve at diametrically opposite points, the handle having 2. lug projecting from its upper corner, said lug having a slot for the reception of the angle portion of the bell crank lever, and pivot means extending through the walls of the slot and the lever, one arm of the lever being disposed above the handle in position to receive the pressure of the users hand, while the fingers of said hand are disposed in the finger opening in the handle, that arm of the bell crank lever which engages the slidable sleeve having a vertically elongate slot therethrough, and a rod fixed at one end in the handle which passes through said slot, the opposite end of the rod providing an anchorage for one end of the spring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,488,455 Chase Mar. 25, 1924 2,578,072 Kargol Dec. 11, 1951 2,628,120 Triestram Feb. 10, '1953 2,629,177 Zinken Feb. 24, 1953 2,717,171 Gottstein Sept. 6, 1955 2,778,668 Tomek et al. Jan. 22, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 134,767 Australia Sept. 25, 1933 70,483 Denmark Dec. 27, 1949 459,245 Great Britain Jan. 5, 1937 69,736 Norway Nov. 5, 1945 313,923 Switzerland July 14, 1956 

